Report states Indigenous tourism sector falling short of recovery goals

The good news is that there is growing demand for Indigenous tourism across Canada.

But the not-so-good news is the industry is still falling short of post-COVID recovery goals according to a report released on Jan. 23 by the Conference Board of Canada (CBOC) and the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC).

“I was expecting it to be stronger,” Keith Henry, who serves as the ITAC president and CEO, said of the report research that was delivered, adding he was disappointed with the data compiled.

Henry though was not shocked to see the non-Indigenous tourism industry is faring better across the country.

“I’m not surprised by the outcome because I know there has been limited support for actual Indigenous marketing and Indigenous tourism support,” he said.

There’s no denying Indigenous tourism is capable of playing a significant role in the country’s economy.

According to the just-released report, Indigenous tourism in 2023 directly contributed $1.6 billion to Canada’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). That was a decrease of 10 per cent compared to 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

When adjusted for inflation, the report said the GDP decrease was almost 24 per cent.

Henry said Indigenous tourism operators have been pleading with government officials and the private sector for much needed financial assistance for years.

“The lack of a real focus and commitment to Indigenous tourism has contributed to this outcome,” Henry said. “We feel that’s a missed opportunity for the industry.”

Henry doesn’t foresee positive changes in the near future.

“I don’t think Canada is going to put any money into it any time soon,” he said. “I haven’t seen any major investments for Indigenous tourism for the last few years. I’ve been on record in the media talking the last few years. And people thought I didn’t make any political friends. But the truth was my job was to advocate for the needs of our industry.”

Henry added talk can indeed be cheap, if not followed through with action.

“There’s a real disconnect between writing us in public statements and policy and then not really investing in it,” he said. “And so, I don’t see any major investments on the horizon from Canada. And any real investments or support coming from the private sector.”

A report on the state of the Indigenous tourism industry in Canada was first released in 2015.

“We’re back now to 2014 levels,” he said. “That’s unfortunate because the regular industry has rebounded (from the pandemic) and actually surpassed 2019 levels. We’re still below 2019 levels. And you’ve got to ask why.

“It’s not that visitor demand is not there. There is a lack of support from marketing and infrastructure to continue to help consumers find our experiences and our product. We have to speak loudly about that because those are systemic challenges we’ve got.”

Henry also said he is disappointed that support has not materialized as anticipated.

“Partners that we were hoping would be there and invest more strategically in the ways that we set through Indigenous-led strategy haven’t done that,” he said. “And my worry is that without those commitments in the near future, which we don’t have, how is Indigenous tourism going to resolve those issues. I see the gap widening, not getting better.

“It will still grow. But it will grow at a very, very nominal rate versus what it could grow had we been meeting the true visitor demand. And we can’t do that with the resources and the investments that we see today.”

A positive note from the report, however, indicated that there were more than 2,750 entrepreneurs and organization that were part of the country’s Indigenous tourism sector in 2023.

That figure has dramatically risen from nearly 1,900 entrepreneurs/organization two years earlier.

Henry attributes the increase to the work done by ITAC and reps from Indigenous provincial/territorial tourism organizations that have raised awareness about the importance of Indigenous tourism.

“That’s the problem now,” Henry said. “We’ve raised such strong support and expectations. And we’ve seen a lot of new artists and smaller businesses come online and more festivals and events. There’s a number of new businesses that have formed in the last five, six, seven years.”

But without some external funding, getting word out about these Indigenous business operators has proved challenging.

“We always thought we were going to have stable, predictable resources,” Henry said. “But we’ve just never been able to achieve that.”